I agree. Apple's strategy is based on monopoly and early lead, the same strategy used 25 years ago for the Mac. Windows 95 crushed Apple once and Android is poised to do the same in the smartphone market. Alas.

At best, Apple's strategy can only lead to an early success followed by a downfall to a 5% world market share. Some people never learn. Greed and supersized egos. Alas.

I agree. Apple's strategy is based on monopoly and early lead, the same strategy used 25 years ago for the Mac. Windows 95 crushed Apple once and Android is poised to do the same in the smartphone market. Alas.

At best, Apple's strategy can only lead to an early success followed by a downfall to a 5% world market share. Some people never learn. Greed and supersized egos. Alas.

\\\

Actually, at best Apple's strategy can lead to the iPod, which has a pretty decent share of the market...

Android is a flash in the pan, just like its parent OS, Linux. If you haven't noticed, Linux is an irrelevant flop for end-users.

It is doomed to Balkanization. There will be Motorola Android, HTC Android, Dell Android, etc. And they will all lock-in their customers.

Android is not a tablet OS, and Google shows its internal confusion by promoting Chrome OS for that role.

The Android market will become clogged by masses of horrible, buggy and insecure apps. Apple's App Store is truly the freest market in practical terms. With their supervision of the basic functionality and security of apps, the users have the widest choice of quality apps possible.

Google's latest scandal regarding privacy shows the company knows too much about its customers and what they give away for "free" actually comes at a high price. Once phone makers and carriers get sued for security breaches at Google, the support for Android will instantly dry up.

I think the notion that Google is competing with Apple in this space is a bit misguided.

Apple's business model is to sell devices to users.
Google's model is to sell users to advertisers.

Seemingly free products will probably do fine. But I am not convinced whether it makes good commercial sense for Google.
I suspect that Google makes more money from iPhone than the do from Android.

C.

That is assuming how much the information is worth. If you can blackmail someone with just one piece of information it might be worth millions for the right owner of this information. For Google that makes its profit about selling information about a user to the highest bidder. They would thrive best by spying and collecting all possible information about you and selling it so that anyone that wants to know about you could pay to get the information. That would be most profitable for google. It now has the devices to do this (where I come from this is called a troijan horse). Google becomes a bigger risk in profiling people than the FBI/CIA etc. Maybe that is why they need a moto like "Dont be evil"? Some employee might even have a hobby of selling sensitive information to anyone willing to pay big bucks. BTW with android they can even spy on all your traffic from the device and any other device in the lan/wlan. They have your wlan wpa2 key for example. Remember when google "unknowingly" recorded a "little" bit of wlan traffic that wasnt encrypted?

A few points;
1. This is US market share where Apple still has a single carrier. It would be useful analysis to have worldwide numbers, broken down into countries with single, dual and multiple carriers. For example, in the UK, the iPhone is now available on all of the top tier carriers and an increasing number of Virtual Network Operators (Virgin Mobile, Tesco, etc). Being in the UK, I have noticed many more people now have the iPhone since going multi-carrier.
2. The figures are for up to July 2010, so won't include the iPhone 4 sales.
3. Does Symbian (Nokia, etc) not sell smartphones in the US?

Market Share is only one factor in success. Mind Share is another. Here in Australia, where the iPhone has always been available on the 4 main carriers - Telstra, Optus, 3 and Vodafone - the iPhone 4 continues to be sold out and new buyers are being asked to wait 3 to 5 weeks for their units. All the carrier stores carry Android phones as well, and, anecdotally, staff tell me that they are selling quite well, but that is a lot different from 'a 5 week wait'.

Mind Share becomes important because I suspect only 50% of people who walk into a store wanting a Smartphone are even aware of 'AntennaGate'. You can guarantee 100% will have heard of the 'iPhone'. This is SO important, because most new customers start from the position of wanting an iPhone, and possibly switch to an Android when the store says, "it's a 5 week wait for an iPhone4 or you can have a Samsung Galaxy S right now." Staff will be reluctant to let you leave the store empty handed - and we are a bunch of instant-gratification shoppers these days.

As a "mini-iPhone" strategy, the iPod Touch seems to be working out pretty well.

Google is more open - with your privacy.
Sold to the highest bigger so they can try and flog you stuff.

Perhaps raw sales figures are keenly sought out by Android admiring tech press, because they seek validation. Yes, the average man in the street has worked out Apple make superior products overall, but hey, if the Android sales figures are up, Android must be cool - right?

A previous comment nailed it. As App Developers, we develop for 4 platforms - iOS, Android, Windows Phone and webOS, but when it comes to pricing a warranty for a client for an Android App, we have to consider - Dell Android? HTC Android? Samsung Android? 2.1? 2.2? Screen resolution? etc. etc.

We recommend 8 Apps to our clients so that they can interface with our development process on their iPads. 8 business class Apps we are confident we can recommend to our clients for revenue critical activities. Only half of these Apps are available on Android. Doesn't really matter who has the most apps. But the "biggest app store" figure is important for.....Mind Share. Just ask your Marketing Manager. It is, however, genuinely hard to get a scientific measure of the quality of the platforms and app stores, but I think it is fairly clear to see which users are attracted to which features of the various platforms.

So Apple's strategy of Mind Share, not just Market Share, is sensible and plays to their strengths. The iPod Touch and iPad operate as precision marketing on behalf of iPhone/iOS. And the fact that iOS is PURPOSE DESIGNED to be used across MULTI-TOUCH DEVICES and not just Smartphones, really is the deal maker. Witness the number of Apps that now get iPhones and iPads to inter-operate. (And soon AppleTV?).....

As a company that designs and build custom iOS-specific Chips, Batteries, Screens, Hardware and Software, Apple does create supply problems for itself. But not being able to build products fast enough to satisfy demand is a problem I'd like to have.

Post-Christmas, with iOS, Android and Win Phone offerings available, hopefully the consumer will win, with competitive pricing and hopefully developers like us will win as we can take advantage of competition driven innovation.

So let's see the figures for July - September (post iPhone4 launch). Let's compare single carrier iPhone markets (USA) with multi-carrier iPhone markets (UK and Australia) and let's see the figures post holiday period when stocks of all iOS devices are ready for the buying season.

three types of android users:
Apple haters: They will never buy anything with a bitten apple logo.
Verizon subscribers: They want an iPhone but can't/won't switch to AT&T.
Cheapskates: They get sucked in to the BOGO deals & cheap hardware.

I agree. Apple's strategy is based on monopoly and early lead, the same strategy used 25 years ago for the Mac. Windows 95 crushed Apple once and Android is poised to do the same in the smartphone market. Alas.

At best, Apple's strategy can only lead to an early success followed by a downfall to a 5% world market share. Some people never learn. Greed and supersized egos. Alas.

Your argument might carry some weight if there were actually parallels between the computer industry 25 years ago and the smartphone industry today. (Or, if Apple's strategy were as you describe.) But, other than the fact that people are focused on two companies, there are no analogous circumstances, particularly none between Android and Windows, so, while it sounds like a plausible argument if you don't actually think about it, there's no substance to it.

That doesn't mean that Android necessarily won't end up with higher market share, just that it won't be for the reasons you give.

Android is winning because it's a better overall platform... it's that simple.

I disagree. Even if the OS were better, it wouldn't matter cuz the hardware is junk.

I had to borrow a friends android phone while camping. My iPhone had no signal, and his had a weak one. I tried to make a call, and the phone reboot itself. This happened 2 more times before I moved around thinking it was a signal issue. It finally worked.

If the phone can't make the call due to a weak signal, why would it reboot???

On a separate occasion, we were out looking for a place to eat. I asked him to look up a place on google and after trying a few times, he had to reboot it. He said its finicky and he has to reboot it sometimes because it gets slow".

Why would anyone put up with this garbage? They just don't know any better.

Sure andorid is much better than the crap phones used to have... but iOS is in much higher class.

There is a significant segment of the tech community that does not like the way Apple plays gatekeeper regarding application approvals. So they will favor Android over Apple for sound philosophical reasons. And when you think about it, denying customers the right to run something like flash - whether it's a performance hog or not - is an almost churlish position by Apple. As if Apple users are too stupid to install a flash blocker if they don't like it? No, there are strategic motivations that have nothing to do with the customer experience behind moves like that. And that strategy is geared completely towards securing larger market dominance and taking more money from Apple customers.

Swoon all you want about iPhones and Steve Jobs. That's just the way it is.

Many people over 40 simply don't have the eyesight to get much value from a browser packed into 3.5". I personally can't focus on anything closer than 18" and the small text on phones usually requires it be held no more than 12" away.

I'm the same way, yet with my Retina display, I can see it easier than my huge iPad. I'll take a retina display over any larger Andriod. The iPad proves my point.

I just hope the next gen iPad has a retina display because the iPhone 4 makes it look like crap.

When??? Not really asking you, but I think that is what consumers are wondering. People can't just sit around and wait for Apple to become available. People have a need/desire for a phone similar to iPhone. Every month that ticks by, it's another million people that are buying into the Android Market. A huge chunk of those people will probably not switch unless they are "free app only" kinds of folks.

Really, as an iPhone user, that's my main reason for not trying an Android phone. I've already committed to the App Store. That and... every Android phone I use feels cheap and the UI is terrible. Too many layers.

It's too little, too late for the iPhone. Android surpassed iPhone and Blackberry sales last quarter making it #1 in the U.S. for that quarter. This doesn't bode well for Apple.

It appears you've not tried an Android device in quite a while. Droid 2? Droid X? Samsung Capitvate/Epic4G/Fascinate? HTC Desire/Incredible? My organization has switched from Blackberry to Android because of the plethora of choices, a solid OS, excellent ActiveSync capabilities, and lots of "freebees" that come with Android, such as GPS navigation.

Plus, more and more developers are creating apps for Android at an alarming rate. Some are even ditching iPhone and focusing exclusively on Android. Android is the future. Apple is the present. Blackberry/Winmo are the past.

There is a significant segment of the tech community that does not like the way Apple plays gatekeeper regarding application approvals. So they will favor Android over Apple for sound philosophical reasons. And when you think about it, denying customers the right to run something like flash - whether it's a performance hog or not - is an almost churlish position by Apple. As if Apple users are too stupid to install a flash blocker if they don't like it? No, there are strategic motivations that have nothing to do with the customer experience behind moves like that. And that strategy is geared completely towards securing larger market dominance and taking more money from Apple customers.

Swoon all you want about iPhones and Steve Jobs. That's just the way it is.

AGREED! The iPhone is beautiful no doubt. One of my good techie friends recently switched from iPhone 3GS to a Droid X. I asked him why, because he was always an Apple guy. He's an IT administrator and works with Macs on networks. He said these words exactly:
"Well, the iPhone is easier to use... as is typical for Apple, they hide all the options, and dumb it down. And people love it. Not sure what that says about our society, but there it is.
In terms of extensibility and the ability to tailor your phone to your needs, Android is much better. Besides, the devices have much better hardware in them than the iPhones. "

There you have it, folks. A committed iPhone dude who has switched to Android. The writing is on the wall.

Now, before you flame me, I'm not anti-Apple. I have 5 Mac computers in the house and 3 iPods. I believe in Apple's creativity and how they design their devices. Plus, without the iPhone, devices probably wouldn't have become what they are today (although Android was already in the works at the same time as iPhone). The iPhone has changed the industry. But now, Android is taking it from here......

There is a significant segment of the tech community that does not like the way Apple plays gatekeeper regarding application approvals. So they will favor Android over Apple for sound philosophical reasons.

Whatever the tech community is - I don't think it's opinion plays any role whatsoever in the commercial success of the platforms in the consumer market.

Android will sell well because its a good platform. But it is not a company.

Just as as with Windows, Android manufacturers realise that when you outsource your software development to another company, your product inevitably becomes a commodity. Making a profit on commodity hardware is very difficult.

I agree. Apple's strategy is based on monopoly and early lead, the same strategy used 25 years ago for the Mac. Windows 95 crushed Apple once and Android is poised to do the same in the smartphone market. Alas.

At best, Apple's strategy can only lead to an early success followed by a downfall to a 5% world market share. Some people never learn. Greed and supersized egos. Alas.

\\\

What nonsense. Another clueless poster. Monopoly? Hardly. And Android is not poised to "crush" apple. There is no comparison between the two. Android is not even in the same league. It is an incredibly fragmented OS based on all the different versions of the base OS that are out there, the different hardware configurations, and the different layers demanded by the carriers. All of these do not fit into one box. Apple has a unified hardware and OS strategy that is vastly superior in not only performance, but in the offerings of the entire ecosystem. These stupid reports only take into account the US where Apple is only on one carrier, and not the vast world market where Apple is kicking android's butt. Consumers in the US will soon wise up to what a dog android really is as they realize that the device they purchased is already obsolete because of the fractured android platform. Early purchasers are already licking their wounds since they can't upgrade.

New data shows Apple, RIM, and Microsoft continue to lose ground to Google in the U.S. smartphone market.

Marketing intelligence company comScore published its quarterly Mobile Subscriber Market Share findings, which tracked total smartphone subscribers for the three months ending in July. According to the report, 53.4 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the quarter, up 11 percent from the previous quarter.

Of the top 5 platforms, only Google Android grew in market share, from 12 percent to 17 percent of the U.S. smartphone market. Microsoft, Research in Motion, and Apple all lost share, while Palm hovered at 4.9 percent.

The study also found that two out of three subscribers send text messages and one out of three subscribers use a browser on their mobile devices. 31.4 percent of users download applications for their devices, and 21.8 percent access social networks and blogs.

In June, Android passed iOS to become the third-most-popular mobile phone OS in the world, according to Gartner.

"A non-exclusive strategy that produces products selling across many communication service providers, and the backing of so many device manufacturers, which are bringing more attractive devices to market at several different price points, were among the factors that yielded its growth this quarter," said Carolina Milanesi, research vice president at Gartner.

In a September research note, the research firm projected Apple will sell 130 million iOS-based mobile devices per year by 2014. In comparison, Gartner projected Android will sell 259 million devices in 2014.

(-1.8)+(-1.3)+(-2.2)+5.0 = 0.3, so where is that 0.3% then, seeing as the change column should sum up to zero?

And the sum of the total phones sold the month BEFORE the iPhone 4 was released is 96.8%. If your going to appear transparent at least show an other OS row :P

Anyway, these are worthless as an indicator, because everyone knew the iPhone 4 was coming out, so they waited. These stats are US only too, so crap! Let's see what the month on Aug-2010 holds, then we'll have something to talk about.

What nonsense. Another clueless poster. Monopoly? Hardly. And Android is not poised to "crush" apple. There is no comparison between the two. Android is not even in the same league. It is an incredibly fragmented OS based on all the different versions of the base OS that are out there, the different hardware configurations, and the different layers demanded by the carriers. All of these do not fit into one box. Apple has a unified hardware and OS strategy that is vastly superior in not only performance, but in the offerings of the entire ecosystem. These stupid reports only take into account the US where Apple is only on one carrier, and not the vast world market where Apple is kicking android's butt. Consumers in the US will soon wise up to what a dog android really is as they realize that the device they purchased is already obsolete because of the fractured android platform. Early purchasers are already licking their wounds since they can't upgrade.

Android is fragmented? I'm so tired of hearing that from clueless iPhone users.
iOS is also fragmented if you want to compare: can you put iOS 4 on an original iPhone? How about on an iPhone 3G? Nope. Now that's fragmentation, my friend.
And, with Android 2.2 (and the upcoming 3.0 Gingerbread), it's even less of an issue.

Plus, you're wrong on the "kicking Android's butt" part outside of the U.S. Last quarter, Android outsold iPhone for the first time. It's all there. Yeah, I know--it's hard to accept.

Android is rising because Apple is letting Android rise. Those numbers/or percentage will soon change once Apple goes multi-carriers (USA) in the future.

Even when that does happen, it will be a temporary stop gate for Android OS growth over iOS smartphone growth. Android and its partners will have to continually frak up for Android to not be the most dominate smartphone OS. There are just too many avenues for its usage compared to smartphone OSes that are only sold on a few select devices from a single company.

Dick Applebaum on whether the iPad is a personal computer: "BTW, I am posting this from my iPad pc while sitting on the throne... personal enough for you?"

You've got to wonder how the iPhone would sell if Antennagate didn't happen.

It would be the same because they have maxed out production.

This is the dumbest survey ever. It is tracking the change over three months. How many phone manufacturers release a new product every 3 months? Somehow Palm managed to stay the same (despite having lost the battle) even though the market grew 11% while everyone else except Android declined. Did they have a fire sale? These numbers are random. You can't take a sample over a period that is lower then the smartphone release schedule without getting random results. Manufacturers sell in waves so a 3 month sample will catch some manufacturers at the high point and others at the low point. For instance, iPhone sales were stalled out as people waited for the iPhone 4 that was leaked early and highly publicized.

I have no doubt that the Android phone will sell well because it hits demographics that Apple isn't interested in. However, these numbers are not based on anything meaningful. As someone else pointed out, they don't add up either.

I can't believe we are talking about this crap again!
Selling cell phones is a different business model than selling ads!!!!!
google uses( here we go again) android for their mobile ad business while the cell phone makers get a jazzy mobile OS(free) they can toss in off the shelf hardware and make a killing.
so Moto and the rest of those android partners are doing nothing more special than selling a ton of hardware with android inside. Period. they don't control android and IMO opinion they could care less. As long as goolge updates android so they can use the newest OS update in a new piece of hardware is all they give a d*** about.
also the android cellphone game is a coallition of competing celly makers and not ONE company. so please stop saying that google is surpassing apple when google doesn't even control the hardware in any shape form or fashion. But it is written,erroneously that google is leading and they ain't. Apple in fact is leading because Apple is in 100% control of ISO while the android crowd are at the bottom eating each othern up and glutting the market with the same freaking OS based cell phone.
As a matter of fact just because of that apple should bee seen as the market leader on the basis that it controls both hardware and software within its cell phone business. PERIOD.

AGREED! The iPhone is beautiful no doubt. One of my good techie friends recently switched from iPhone 3GS to a Droid X. I asked him why, because he was always an Apple guy. He's an IT administrator and works with Macs on networks. He said these words exactly:
"Well, the iPhone is easier to use... as is typical for Apple, they hide all the options, and dumb it down. And people love it. Not sure what that says about our society, but there it is.
In terms of extensibility and the ability to tailor your phone to your needs, Android is much better. Besides, the devices have much better hardware in them than the iPhones. "

There you have it, folks. A committed iPhone dude who has switched to Android. The writing is on the wall.

Now, before you flame me, I'm not anti-Apple. I have 5 Mac computers in the house and 3 iPods. I believe in Apple's creativity and how they design their devices. Plus, without the iPhone, devices probably wouldn't have become what they are today (although Android was already in the works at the same time as iPhone). The iPhone has changed the industry. But now, Android is taking it from here......

And yet another totally clueless individual. It is a total fallacy that Android is an "open system". And its laughable that iPhones are "dumbed down". They are just vastly easier to use! They don't "hide all the options" - you obviously don't know what you are talking about. Android IS NOT better at "extensibility and tailoring the phone to your needs" - is this supposed to be a joke. And as to hardware, again, total nonsense. Nearly every manufacturer is making android devices with varied quality and feature sets. Again, you are clueless.

You would kinda expect Apple to loose a little in share in the build up to the release of the iPhone 4.
It was no surprise that the iPhone 4 was coming and also thanks to the many leaks what a stunning piece of kit it'd be - hence a slow down in sales of the 3 and 3G.
Also in a recession you'd expect people to steer away from more 'premium' products to cheaper Google based alternatives - not knocking Google as such but have you seen Android demo'd by any friends/colleagues? No me neither I think that they just keep them in their pockets!!
Back to the point, the real test will be the next quarter's market share including iPhone 4 sales, not forgetting the significant improvements in iOS4 and the promise of iOS4.2

I can't believe we are talking about this crap again!
Selling cell phones is a different business model than selling ads!!!!!
google uses( here we go again) android for their mobile ad business while the cell phone makers get a jazzy mobile OS(free) they can toss in off the shelf hardware and make a killing.
so Moto and the rest of those android partners are doing nothing more special than selling a ton of hardware with android inside. Period. they don't control android and IMO opinion they could care less. As long as goolge updates android so they can use the newest OS update in a new piece of hardware is all they give a d*** about.
also the android cellphone game is a coallition of competing celly makers and not ONE company. so please stop saying that google is surpassing apple when google doesn't even control the hardware in any shape form or fashion. But it is written,erroneously that google is leading and they ain't. Apple in fact is leading because Apple is in 100% control of ISO while the android crowd are at the bottom eating each othern up and glutting the market with the same freaking OS based cell phone.
As a matter of fact just because of that apple should bee seen as the market leader on the basis that it controls both hardware and software within its cell phone business. PERIOD.

Oh, come on. Well maybe "Google" isn't leading, but "Android" certainly is. Check out the facts. Android outsold iPhone in the U.S. over the past 2 quarters, including the one in which iPhone 4 was released. And, internationally, Android has increased over 850% year over year. iPhone can't even come close to that.

Let's face it: competition is GOOD for all of us. Plus, all the different hardware manufacturers are all competing against each other, using Android as the OS. What does this mean for the consumer? Answer: better devices!!! And of course the devices will be better than iPhone because multiple companies are making them and releasing new ones every 2-3 months. There's no way for Apple to compete against that kind of momentum.

It's too little, too late for the iPhone. Android surpassed iPhone and Blackberry sales last quarter making it #1 in the U.S. for that quarter. This doesn't bode well for Apple.

It appears you've not tried an Android device in quite a while. Droid 2? Droid X? Samsung Capitvate/Epic4G/Fascinate? HTC Desire/Incredible? My organization has switched from Blackberry to Android because of the plethora of choices, a solid OS, excellent ActiveSync capabilities, and lots of "freebees" that come with Android, such as GPS navigation.

Plus, more and more developers are creating apps for Android at an alarming rate. Some are even ditching iPhone and focusing exclusively on Android. Android is the future. Apple is the present. Blackberry/Winmo are the past.

You couldn't be more wrong about the developer community! Try educating yourself before you make such stupid claims.

And yet another totally clueless individual. It is a total fallacy that Android is an "open system". And its laughable that iPhones are "dumbed down". They are just vastly easier to use! They don't "hide all the options" - you obviously don't know what you are talking about. Android IS NOT better at "extensibility and tailoring the phone to your needs" - is this supposed to be a joke. And as to hardware, again, total nonsense. Nearly every manufacturer is making android devices with varied quality and feature sets. Again, you are clueless.

LOL. Funny, but my bud (quoted) is an app developer for iPhone and an IT network admin using Macs/iPhones, so he's definitely not clueless.

Go into a store, check out an Incredible or a Droid X or a Droid 2 or a Samsung Galaxy S, and you'll see what customization is all about. That's one thing I really like about Android--my phone's UI looks completely different from anybody else's while iPhone's UIs all look alike--kinda like clones.

Dude, it's OK to accept that iPhone has set the standard by which all other phones have been measured. But now it's also OK to accept the fact that it's now been surpassed by Android.

I agree. Apple's strategy is based on monopoly and early lead, the same strategy used 25 years ago for the Mac. Windows 95 crushed Apple once and Android is poised to do the same in the smartphone market. Alas.

At best, Apple's strategy can only lead to an early success followed by a downfall to a 5% world market share. Some people never learn. Greed and supersized egos. Alas.

\\\

Apple's 5% will equate to money for Apple (and will be probably in the region of 40-50% of all smartphone profit, you only have to look at Mac hardware sales to see this one coming). Google's percentage won't make them any money.